News

Dr Alison Gill from the University of Adelaide looks over a crop grown in a controlled environment.

From space science to dinner plates: the future of farming indoors

1 October 2025

Extreme weather events, from heavy rainfall to heatwaves and droughts, are increasingly threatening crop yields globally, so new solutions are needed for agriculture. An international team from the University of Cambridge, University of Adelaide, University of Western Australia and NASA have reimagined how we grow food...

View of the rainforest canopy. Photo credit: Adriane Esquivel Muelbert.

The fattening forest: trees of the Amazon are getting bigger

25 September 2025

Average tree size across the Amazon has increased by 3.2% every decade consistent with a response to rising carbon dioxide levels, a new study suggests. The study, co-led by Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, incoming Associate Professor of Ecology at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, found that big...

Belinda Clarke, Director of AgriTechE, an independent membership organisation for global innovation in agri-tech, and former student at the Department of Plant Sciences.

Alumni stories: Belinda Clarke

18 September 2025

Studying Plant Sciences at Cambridge can open up a wealth of career opportunities. In this series, we hear from Plant Sciences alumni about their experiences of studying here, how it shaped their careers and what they are doing now. If you would like your alumni story featured, please email us at alumni@plantsci.cam.ac.uk...

Banana seed enterprise in Rwanda. Photo credit Dr Aman Bonaventure Omondi.

Protecting banana production in Africa: climate resilience and sustainability project aims to reduce crop losses and prevent disease

28 July 2025

A new project, co-led by Dr Renata Retkute from the Department of Plant Sciences’ Epidemiology and Modelling group , aims to safeguard banana and plantain production in East and West Africa by reducing crop losses caused by banana bunchy top virus (BBTV). The research will provide key insights to help reduce the spread of...

Savanna hawk is a widespread species that invades formerly forested areas after clearance

Clearing rainforest for cattle farming is far worse for nature than previously thought, finds landmark bird survey

22 July 2025

In the largest ever survey of rainforest birdlife, scientists have discovered that deforestation to create pastureland in Colombia is causing around 60% more damage to biodiversity than previously estimated. Researchers have conducted the world’s biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests...

Colleagues at Botanicon 2025. Photo by Zara Guppy.

Plants @ Cambridge Botanicon brings together plant biologists from across the University

7 July 2025

This year’s Plants @ Cambridge Botanicon took place at St John's College on Friday 4 July. The event was organised by, and brought together, early-career researchers from across the plant biology network in Cambridge. The event involved a range of activities, including short talks, poster sessions and hot techniques...

Professor Julian Hibberd elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation

1 July 2025

Julian Hibberd , Professor of Photosynthesis and Head of the University of Cambridge Department of Plant Sciences joins the community of over 2,100 leading life scientists today as the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) announces its newest members. He is among 69 scientists from across Europe and beyond that...

Vibratome cross-section of a tomato stem attached by a Cuscuta haustorium, stained with toluidine blue. Photo by Min-Yao Jhu.

Review explores how plants tailor organ development to engage with friends and foes in symbiotic interactions

23 June 2025

Dr Min-Yao Jhu , Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sustainable Crop Nutrition group at the Crop Science Centre (CSC), has published a review exploring how plants adaptively reuse core developmental pathways to build highly specialised organs during both mutualistic and parasitic interactions. The review, ' From hosts...

Illustrations of bladderworts from Roger Fry’s thesis on 'The hair structures of the bladders of Utricularia vulgaris'. Photo credit: University of Cambridge.

Thesis by famous Bloomsbury artist uncovered in Plant Sciences archives

16 June 2025

University of Cambridge Library and Archives staff have brought to light a handwritten and illustrated thesis by the famous Bloomsbury artist Roger Fry in the Department of Plant Sciences archives. Roger Fry graduated from King’s College Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences in 1888 before travelling to Italy and...

Greg Reeves in the kiwifruit orchard at the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre, Te Puke, New Zealand

Alumni stories: Greg Reeves

10 June 2025

From space science to dinner plates: the future of farming indoors

The fattening forest: trees of the Amazon are getting bigger

Alumni stories: Belinda Clarke

Protecting banana production in Africa: climate resilience and sustainability project aims to reduce crop losses and prevent disease

Clearing rainforest for cattle farming is far worse for nature than previously thought, finds landmark bird survey

Plants @ Cambridge Botanicon brings together plant biologists from across the University

Professor Julian Hibberd elected as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation

Review explores how plants tailor organ development to engage with friends and foes in symbiotic interactions

Thesis by famous Bloomsbury artist uncovered in Plant Sciences archives

Alumni stories: Greg Reeves

Find us

Contact us

More

Social media

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge